We gazed at two towers that reached into the sky; twenty-eight kings who gazed into the plaza; several medallions that symbolized virtue and vice lined the large wooden door; the final judgment of man that took place above the entrance—we stood with the immense, grey façade of Notre Dame de Paris in front of us.  The cathedral was built in the fourth century, and then it was reconstructed in the twelfth century. The front of Notre Dame used to be elaborately painted in bright colors, but time and weather has washed the paint away.  In the nineteenth century, the cathedral had become somewhat neglected and was in need of drastic renovations. 

Luckily, in 1832, Victor Hugo's novel ­"The Hunchback of Notre Dame" saved the building by inspiring the French population to begin a reconstruction campaign.  Inside the cathedral, the Gothic vaulted arches loomed over our heads, and little light penetrated the stained glass windows.  As I inhaled the cool, damp air, I felt as if I had traveled back in time. (-Lauren)